Jack of Spades
by Oblivion Star Seeker
Summary: "You know...I've always thought that the statue looked more like a chicken than a phoenix." Jack-centric. R&R.


**Note: Rated T for minor swearing.**

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><p><span>Jack of Spades<span>

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><p>There were often days in class when Zero's famous katana wielder would wander astray from the lesson being taught at the front. The topics almost never interested him but how he still managed to be ranked near the top of the grade was mindboggling indeed. He never saw the point of having to be taught for hours a day on subjects that he knew would hardly be of use to him later in life. The only parts he looked forward to during a normal school day were the usual breaks they'd get in between periods. After that, it was back to the same old routine.<p>

Sitting in class and doing nothing, he tried finding ways to entertain himself from dying of sheer boredom. As he glanced about the class room, he spotted the head of the familiar bow-user sitting up in the front row, listening intently to Kurasame's lecture. Jack was always tempted to cast a water spell on Trey's head to mess up his 'oh-so perfect' hair (according to many of the female population at Suzaku) that every girl seemed to dream about. The only obvious flaw to the idea, of course, was getting a possible detention if he was caught in the act by their instructor's pet Tonberry that always stood on the desk.

That small green creature always kept an eye on the students when their instructor wasn't. It gave Jack the chills just thinking about what the stupid monster might do if he ever tried his ingenious plan.

Sighing, the blond picked up his pencil with two fingers and began waving it around aimlessly. What he didn't expect to happen next was for the pencil to simply go flying off in one direction hitting Sice (who was sitting in the row in front of him off to the right) in the back of her neck. She let out a pained yelp, rubbing her neck and whipped her head around to see who did it.

Jack quickly hid his face from her prying eyes so as to not get caught. Etro only knew what she would do if she ever found out it was him. That girl was brilliant in battle and just knowing about her extreme skills made him want to hide under a rock.

Kurasame paused from his lecture when he heard the ivory-haired girl and looked over towards that side of the room.

"Is there something wrong, Sice?" he asked her, all head's turning to where he was looking at. Sice didn't hesitate to voice her complaint after that.

"Someone just threw a pencil at me," she replied crossly. From directly behind her, Nine failed to hold in a snicker.

The Ice Blade of Death raised a brow and switched his gaze to him. "Did you do it, Nine?"

Immediately, the scarred-boy stopped. "Wha – me?" He was taken off guard by the question. "No, why would I even _want _to throw a pencil at this chick?" When he looked towards said girl he was met with a menacing glare making him shrink back in his seat. "I didn't do it, I swear!"

Jack smirked at the sudden turn of events; this was just another thing that would amuse him during a school day.

Everybody in their elite class was known for something. Sice was the fearless one and people knew not to mess with her – hence the reason Jack was afraid of getting caught from the incident. Nine, on the other hand was well-known for being a slacker (more of a slacker than Jack was). He was almost at the bottom of the academic level in Class Zero but he excelled greatly when it came to combat purposes.

Kurasame sighed deeply and waved the minor incident off. "Whoever did it is expected to apologize to Sice after class, understood?"

That meant Jack. Of course, he wasn't planning on apologizing at all. For all he knew he could find a scythe pressed against his neck the next second if he told her.

Soon after, their instructor brought his attention back to the lecture leaving the blond to have to endure more boredom for another hour or so. His blue eyes swept the whole class room, searching for something to occupy himself with until he settled on staring at the back of someone's head sitting directly in front of him. It was the back of Seven's head, to be more precise.

He knew that she and Sice were friends although Seven was the complete opposite of the scythe-wielder. Being kind-hearted towards others, she had many admirers throughout the school; many of them being the underclassmen. It seemed odd to him, though, how she rarely ever quirked a smile. There were a few times when he'd catch her with a small upturn of the corner of her lips but other than that, she hardly ever did.

There were countless times during class when Jack would just stare at the back of her head like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Seven was an interesting person, indeed. There was just something about the silver-haired girl that drew him to her; he just couldn't quite put a finger on it. Her cold expressions were hiding the good nature she held inside. Many people knew of her appealing personality already, though, for she was one to never turn down someone requesting for help.

The same would go on the battlefield. Of the few times he was assigned missions with her before, she would be the one casting healing spells to the team when things got rough. It was a fitting trait that he found to be helpful.

Suddenly feeling a pair of eyes staring at him, Jack slowly turned his head to the right and saw Nine's gaze lingering on him. The boy had a smirk present upon his lips as he made a suggestive gesture with his eyebrows towards the girl he was staring at for the past five minutes. He then carefully mouthed the words, _See something you like?_

Jack's face reddened as he read his friend's lips. The blond mouthed back, _It's not like that, you asshole!_

Their wordless conversation went on until they both ended up having a friendly banter of insults being thrown at each other. They had given up mouthing their words and instead switched to whispering.

"You're an idiot."

"Yeah, and I'm sure that one day you're going to accidentally slice off a chunk of your hair if you keep swinging around that katana!"

"Says the guy who got kicked in the stomach by a little girl!"

"That was one time!" Nine threw his hands up in exasperation.

"You were howling in pain afterwards," the other blond pointed out smugly. "You're a softy."

"Hey! That girl was a crazy ass, mother –"

Nine never was able to finish what the girl exactly was when suddenly the two boys felt a cold stream of water come pouring down their backs. They were drenched from the waist up by a Water spell that was cast by the Tonberry upon being prompted to by Kurasame. He nodded approvingly at the creature and glared at the two in the back row. Jack immediately felt immediate guilt fill the pit of his stomach as they looked at their teacher.

"Eh, sorry," he heard Nine mumble though it sounded more like a forced apology rather than an actually meaningful one. Who were they to blame though? There were only twenty minutes of class left and surely Kurasame would know that he'd lose _some _of their attention by the end of the day.

Their teacher sighed for the umpteenth time. "That'll be detention, for both of you today after school."

Instantly the two blonds were up on their feet shouting in unison, "WHAT?"

"I'll make it an hour longer if you keep on speaking out."

"But it's a Friday," Nine moaned.

"No exceptions," Kurasame replied, unaffected by his complaint. "Now keep quiet or else I _will _add an extra hour to your detention."

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><p>"Damn it, who the hell gets a detention on a Friday?" Nine complained as he paced the front of the classroom. He and Jack were the only ones there, save for Kurasame's pet Tonberry who was watching them. Kurasame had left the room saying he had an important task to do but he hadn't forgotten the detention he laid upon them (much to the boys' dismay). And so, instead of their instructor being the one to watch over them, he put Tonberry in charge of doing so to make sure they stayed in the room until their hour was up.<p>

Dismissal happened not too long ago and so far, the boys had nothing to do to keep them occupied. The intimidating stare of Tonberry's yellow eyes upon them wasn't helping as much either. Jack took a glance at it and immediately looked away in fear. A small green creature holding an over-sized knife certainly was not something to take for granted.

"We wouldn't have to be stuck in this predicament if you weren't staring at me before," he noted in irritation. His clothes were still a bit damp from the spell that was cast on them earlier that he could feel them sticking to his skin uncomfortably. How he wished time would go by faster so he could change...

"I was not staring," Nine retorted, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back against the teacher's desk. "I was bored and I just happened to see you staring– yeah, that's right, _staring_ – at Seven's head." A sly smirk appeared on his face. "Why were you even looking at her?"

Jack looked away, trying to think up a decent response to the question. "There was something..." he paused for a moment and then continued. "...on the back of her head. Yeah." He hoped that Nine would fall for the lie he made up.

"Really?" Apparently, he would. Nine was too gullible for his own good. "Was it a bald spot or -"

"A _bald spot_?" Jack repeated. What kind of things did this guy have going on in his head? "Why would she – NO! She did not have a bald spot on her head, Nine."

Nine's shoulders seemed to slouch then. "Oh, never mind." He looked over to his side and noticed Tonberry staring at him. "Hey Tonberry, what do you think was on Seven's head?"

The katana-user gawked at his friend and waved his hands around. "What the hell are you doing?"

He looked over to his exasperated friend with a grin. "I'm asking it for its opinion, duh."

"Don't encourage it!" Jack exclaimed. He stood up and scurried his way over to his friend to whisper in his ear, "It might have some kind of evil plan up its sleeve."

"Why is everyone afraid of this little guy?" Nine reached out a hand and was about to pat the green creature on the head when suddenly it whipped out its over-sized knife to point it threateningly at the blond. Said boy leaped back in fear from the knife being pointed at him.

"I _told_ you!" his friend whispered loudly. "Soon enough it'll kill us all!"

A sudden chill ran down both boys' spines as they stared into the menacing look of the green creature. It was like an endless staring contest at that moment. They had not moved an inch from their current positions having stood there for nearly ten minutes already. When they heard the eerie noise of the classroom door open they cried out in surprise at the newcomer with the face mask.

Kurasame raised a single brow at them when he noticed them cringing by his desk. "What are you two exactly doing?"

Jack looked over at their teacher and sighed in relief. He stepped forward from the desk. "We were just, uh..."

"...admiring the wooden interior of your desk," Nine finished for him in a serious tone. He patted the top of the desk with one hand and smiled sheepishly.

Kurasame sighed and shook his head. "Step away from my desk, if you will."

The two instantly did as told and moved further away from it. Tonberry had lowered its weapon upon its master entering and was observing the conversation intently.

"You two are dismissed." Immediately, the two ushered themselves out of the room, muttering their apologies as they passed by him. "But I better not have to see you after school again!" Kurasame called out as they left. He sighed and walked over to his desk where his Tonberry stood. "These teenagers will be the end of me one day," he said to it, giving the creature a small pat on the head.

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><p>The two exited the school from the front entrance after they were let out of detention. They had to go through many corridors along the way since the school was such a big building. As they started down the stairs in front of the entrance, they noticed that there were quite a few students sitting about near the huge fountain placed outside. Atop the fountain was a large statue of the phoenix represented on Rubrum's flag.<p>

Though the statue was _supposed _to represent the phoenix, Jack often thought that they had been mistaking it for some sort of majestic chicken. It certainly looked like one, to him, but whenever he tried telling someone they would eventually lash out on him for not respecting the actual animal. He couldn't help it that he saw differently than everyone else did. Was it a chicken or a phoenix? The question often confounded his mind.

"Hey look over there," Nine pointed out suddenly once they reached the final step. "Look who're sitting on the other side of the fountain."

Jack followed his line of sight and sure enough he recognized the backs of the two students he was referring to. One of them being Queen, their Class President, and the other – he recognized the silver head almost immediately – was Seven. The two were hunched over, their heads looking down at something. If he had known any better, he would've thought that Nine was going to make up an excuse to go over and sneak up behind the dark-haired girl.

He predicted right, of course.

The blond watched his friend sneak up to the two and very carefully, leaned in by Queen's ear to whisper something that made the girl jump. Her reaction was quite amusing for she yelled something at Nine and smacked him on the arm with what looked to be a textbook. What the scarred-boy didn't expect next was for the girl to materialize her sword from thin air and point it at him. What was with everybody pointing their weapons at him? First Tonberry and now Queen.

Jack walked over to the two before they could start something. He grinned when he saw Queen try to jab at Nine but the boy managed to evade the sudden strike.

"Watch where you point that thing!" Nine exclaimed, pleading for her to stop. "All right, all right, I'm sorry! Just don't kill me!" He raised his arms over his head trying to block any further attack from the raged girl. She didn't strike at him, however, and only sighed.

From behind her, Seven stood up from where she sat and came over to the two as well to see what they were up to. Jack proceeded to laugh at his friend sitting on the ground continuing to ask for mercy.

"You can relax, Nine," he said once he calmed his laughter. "She's not going to kill you."

Nine opened one eye and saw all three of them staring down at him. He stood up and let out an awkward cough. "Right, sorry," he told Queen who rolled her eyes in response.

"Why exactly did you come and bother us?" she asked them, narrowing her eyes. When Queen was in a bad mood, no one would go near her. They would have to choose their words carefully if they wanted to avoid any circumstances from the president.

Nine opened his mouth to respond, but Jack interjected him before he could say anything further that would ignite more fury in the intimidating girl. However, given the situation they were in already, he decided to play around with the both of them. With a sly grin he said, "Nine wanted to check you out."

"What?" Nine and Queen both yelled. Jack glanced over at Seven and noticed she wore an amused expression.

"I did not!" the scarred-boy proclaimed to Queen. Her face was bright red; whether it was from fury or embarrassment, he didn't know.

Jack decided to tease them even further. "He also mentioned something about your -"

Nine's face was a bright shade of scarlet as well, but he still managed to interrupt his friend by saying, "Whatever he's going to say, I assure you, it's not true Queen!"

Upon Nine's rude interruption, as Jack had put it, he moved closer to Queen and whispered in her ear just what he was going to say. Her mouth was left agape after that as she stared at Nine in disgust. The blond turned to glare at his friend for turning the situation into what it was now.

"You pervert!" she yelled, already summoning her weapon in her hands once more. Nine's eyes widened in horror as the girl began advancing upon him. He swore he thought he saw fire in her purple eyes. And soon enough, she jabbed her sword forward but missed again when Nine fell backwards on his own to evade the attack.

"I didn't say anything, I swear!" He scrambled to get on his feet so he could escape, but the president was hot on his trail as he ran away. Queen's hand started to glow an orange-red color, preparing to cast a firaga spell as she ran after him.

"Nine, get back here!" she shouted as the two took off from the group. Jack watched them run down the west path of the trail in front of the school which would eventually lead them to the chocobo stables. He knew Nine was going to try and make an escape by using one of the innocent creatures if he ever made it in time before Queen would get to him.

He laughed at the sight of his friend getting chased off by the dark-haired girl, unable to hold in the amusement of the whole thing. Jack didn't expect things to go _this_ far but nonetheless the whole thing was worth it in the end. He didn't even realize until a moment later that Seven was actually laughing with him at what had just occurred.

"Those two act like an old married couple," she commented, a small smile gracing her lips. Jack grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. The situation he left the other two in was awful on their parts and he felt a bit sorry for having done so but the small smile that Seven sent him did manage to boost up his morale somewhat. "I wouldn't be surprised if they actually end up getting together in the future."

He chuckled lightly. "Yeah, I can almost be certain that _that _might happen," he replied. "They argue all the time."

She crossed her arms over her chest; the recent smile soon dissipating into her usual neutral look. The change made Jack feel a bit disappointed for he thought that the smile suited her in a way. It was nice to see the girl smile for once, however.

"So why _did _you two come over to us anyway?" she asked what Queen had said before.

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "Nine felt like playing around with Queen when he saw you guys," he told her. "And then everything else happened."

Seven nodded slightly, turning to glance at the fountain's statue. He looked over as well and glared at the 'phoenix' that everyone thought it was to be. How couldn't anyone else see the obvious that he did? She cocked her head to the side in a confused sort of way as she stared at it.

"You know...I've always thought that the statue looked more like a chicken than a phoenix," Seven thought aloud. And just as she said it, Jack's face lit up.

"Finally someone agrees with me!"

She raised a brow and stared at him oddly. "You think so too?"

"Of course!" he exclaimed using his hands to point at the 'phoenix'. "When I first came here I thought it was a chicken until I heard someone else say it was actually the flag's symbol. But I still think it looks more like a chicken."

"Interesting," Seven murmured. "So I guess we do share something in common after all..."

Jack's ears perked up when he heard this. "What was that?" he asked, even though he heard every word she said.

She shook her head, her silver locks swinging from side to side. "Never mind," she said, turning her back to the statue. "I'm afraid that I have to leave now."

"Ah, all right," he said, feeling the pit of his stomach drop in disappointment though he didn't show it. "I understand."

The corner of Seven's lips curved into a sad smile. She might've felt bad for having to leave him, if Jack could read minds, but since he couldn't he shook the thought out of his head. He was glad, though, that he was able to have a little chat with the girl that sat in front of him. There was a possibility that this was just a jump start to a new friendship of sorts.

"I'll be seeing you around Jack," said Seven as she stepped back from him. She raised a hand to wave goodbye which he returned with his own and then turned to walk down a path leading her to the female dormitories.

Even after she left, a grin was left against his face as he stared at the statue sitting on top of the fountain.

"Who would've thought that we shared the same views on a damn chicken?"

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><p><strong>This turned out longer than I anticipated it to be... o.o<strong>

**I think I might've made Queen a tad bit OOC in this, but I tried my best to maintain her overall personality. **

**And as you can see, the implied pairings in this fic are Nine x Queen and Jack x Seven (in case some of you were unable to catch them, although the Jack x Seven pairing is more of a friendship sorta thing in this...but I still support them as a couple).**

**Some thoughts on this would be nice! This is my first attempt at a humor fic so I'd appreciate the feedback from anyone. :)**


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